To receive an update from the Council’s representative on matters considered at the last meeting.

46.1           Members received an update from Councillor Mrs J E Day, the Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Health and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee, on matters discussed at the last meeting held on 13 September 2016.

46.2           Members were advised that the Committee had been pleased to welcome the Chief Executive, and Director of Operations, of the South Western Ambulance Service Foundation Trust (SWASFT) to the meeting.  The Committee monitored SWASFT performance on an annual basis and, being mindful of its decision to withdraw from the Out of Hours service contract in Gloucestershire and NHS 111 in the south of the region, it also wanted to understand the direction of travel for the service.  The discussion of response times had focused primarily on the Ambulance Response Programme and SWASFT had informed Members that it felt this was moving in the right direction.  Paramedics and vehicles were being used more effectively as the recording of calls was enabling better identification of RED1 calls.  The Committee had been pleased to note that SWASFT was monitoring, on a daily basis, whether the Ambulance Response Programme was having a negative impact on calls and no serious incidents had been reported to date.  Councillor Day indicated that ambulance drivers often had difficulty identifying properties when they responded to calls and asked that people ensure that house numbers were prominently displayed and well lit.

46.3           With regard to the review of Minor Illness and Injury Units (MIIUs) in Gloucestershire, the Chief Executive of Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust had informed the Committee of the outcome of the engagement exercise and the option that was being taken forward for decision by the Gloucestershire Care Services Board at its meeting on 20 September 2016.  This related to the opening hours of the MIIUs at Stroud and Cirencester changing to 8.00am-11.00pm.  Concern had been raised from Stroud representatives on the Committee that this would mean the closure of the MIIU overnight, however, the Board was clear that it was required to address the actions identified from the Care Quality Commission inspection and emphasised that this was not about saving money.  The Committee agreed that it would be important to understand the outcome of the urgent care review as this would identify where urgent care centres would be located in the County and would give a broader understanding of where members of the public could access such care. 

46.4           In terms of the Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group performance report, it was noted that the Committee had been concerned for some time about the situation with regard to the accident and emergency four hour target and the recent intervention by NHS Improvement had reinforced those concerns.  The Committee had therefore been pleased to welcome the new Chief Executive of the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to the meeting to discuss the matter.  The Committee was informed that, although people were waiting, they were safe and the service was safe; the Trust had already improved performance from 77% of people being seen within four hours in February 2016 to 91.9% currently.  There was a concern that demand pressures meant that there were medical patients on surgical wards, however, the Chief Executive provided assurance that these patients were safe and that there was good oversight of their care.

46.5           The Chair indicated that the update would be circulated to Members via email following the meeting and it was

RESOLVED          That the feedback from the last meeting of the Gloucestershire Health and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee be NOTED.